Time in 17th century dîvȃn poetry (Hâletî [Dod. 1631] - Nef'î [Dod. 1635] - Nâ'ilî [Dod. 1666] - Neşâtî [Dod. 1674] - Nâbî [Dod. 1712])

This thesis attempts to examine the conception of time and related words that appear in the poetries of the leading Dîvân poets in the 17th century. Due both to its being a broad subject, and to its being one of the most controversial topics throughout the history of thought, particularly in philosophy, the discussion of the concept of time in a narrower perspective is inevitable. In this study, in the theoretical ground that shapes the perception of time of the classical period, the words belong to the conceptual field of time is specified. These words are dealt with under the subtitles and shown in what framework and how they are treated in the poetries of the selected poets. In doing so, it has, n a way, been possible to reveal the perception of time of the period's man and the way they conceive of being through art. This work, when looked from a different point of view, is an analysis of a mentality that helps to understand the structure of the period's consciousness. In examining the texts two different categories of time, namely, natural time and absolute time is considered. The former indicates to the worldly time that we perceive through our senses, through our humane and mortal side whereas the latter to the time of the realm, where corporeal attributes are excluded, and where one lives in infinity and unlimitedness. One more difference is that while the worldly time is linear, the absolute and the cosmic time is circular. In order to make the subject more comprehensible, these classifications are benefited in interpreting some of the selected couplets. Since the literary texts reflects the spirit of the period they belong to, their reading is incomplete if one does not consider their relation to philosophy, Islamic Sufism, and the other disciplines. This study is an outcome of such an approach that bears in mind these connections.